Report: Over 16,000 Chemicals Found in Common Plastic Products, 3,000 More Than The Previous Estimate
A new report from the PlastChem Project has found that there are at least 3,000 more chemicals present in different plastic products than previously estimated.
Conducted by a team of European scientists and funded by the Research Council of Norway, the report identified over 16,000 chemicals in common products like water bottles, teething toys and even medical products like blood bags.
This staggering number is a significant increase from the previously estimated 13,000 chemicals identified by the United Nations Environment Program.
A few of the thousands of chemicals found in plastics are per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or “forever chemicals,” which are linked to cancer and liver damage and low birth weight; phthalates, which mimic hormones and lower testosterone levels; and bisphenols, which mimic estrogen to disrupt the endocrine system.
(Related: Study: Paper and bamboo drinking straws have HIGHER concentrations of FOREVER CHEMICALS than plastic straws.)
Moreover, the researchers discovered information gaps in over a quarter of the plastic chemicals in circulation. In other words, the chemicals “lack basic information on their identity and more than half have ambiguous or missing information on their functions and applications in the public domain.”
But despite being hazardous, only a small fraction of the chemicals are regulated by environmental agreements – just 980 out of 4,200. Meaning, over 3,200 potentially harmful chemicals are not being monitored, and their spread throughout the environment and to the products sold every day is unknown.
“Only six percent of the chemicals found in plastics are regulated internationally. Without regulatory pressure, there is no motivation to disclose what’s in the plastics,” said Martin Wagner, an environmental toxicologist at the Norweigan University of Science and Technology and the lead author of the report.
Researchers call for strenuous regulation of plastics
Jane Muncke, co-author of the report and managing director of the Swiss nonprofit Food Packaging Forum, warned of the health risks associated with exposure to these chemicals. She claims that certain plastic chemicals have been linked to fertility issues, heart disease, cancer and other adverse health outcomes.
The study used four key criteria to assess the dangers of these chemicals: persistence, mobility, bioaccumulation and toxicity.
Persistence refers to the chemicals’ ability to resist breakdown or degradation in the environment. Mobility, on the other hand, refers to their ability to spread. Bioaccumulation underscores the chemicals’ propensity to accumulate in living organisms over time, potentially leading to adverse health effects. Lastly, toxicity signifies their capacity to cause harm to humans, wildlife and ecosystems.
Similarly, a report published in February confirmed that recycling plastics is neither economically nor practically feasible, contradicting long-standing industry claims.
In response, the authors of the study stressed the need for a holistic approach to plastic regulation, encompassing all stages of the plastic lifecycle – from production to disposal. They emphasized that without significant pressure on both industry and governments to enact change, the hazardous effects of plastic chemicals will persist unabated.
“Governments across the globe want to tackle the plastics problem. However, this can only be achieved if problematic plastic chemicals are properly dealt with. The report provides the much-needed scientific evidence to make plastics safer for the environment and for us humans,” he said.
Listen to this episode of “Finding Genius Podcast” where Steve and Deonie Allen talk about how to address the world’s plastic crisis.
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Don Lemon VS Musk: Elon Destroys Professional Liar in Live Time
On his Tuesday show, Alex Jones exposed the talking puppet Don Lemon who parroted the establishment left’s talking-points during an interview he had with Elon Musk.
“This is all a talking point, this is all the same message, it’s all official, it’s not a weird liberal that’s wacked-out, he’s got the corporate big banks running him telling him what to do, a globalist agent in the X camp,” Jones said. “And he sits there and says ‘why do we need standards for doctors’.”
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Economist Warns Rollout Of The Mark Of The Beast Being Prepared By Central Bank
Gang Violence, “Cannibalism” in Haiti Are The Result of Leftist Takeover
The world is watching now the worsening chaos and violence in Haiti. Gangs have hijacked the government, plunging the nation into violent turmoil. Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry has even tendered his resignation and appealed for calm as the country descends into chaos.
“The government that I am leading will resign immediately after the installation of [a transition] council,” Henry said. “I’m asking all Haitians to remain calm and do everything they can for peace and stability to come back as fast as possible.”
Gangs in the Caribbean country of almost 12 million people have set the Interior Ministry on fire and attacked police stations and government offices in the capital. Local news agency Le Nouvelliste reported the intense fighting in downtown Port-au-Prince has been going on for more than a week. According to a report by Daily Express U.S., the level of violence is unprecedented and the groups seemingly want to kill as many people as they can. A journalist said that the gangs are in a fear campaign where they want to appear as murderous and as violent as possible. He continued: “For instance, we have seen images of gang leaders eating people they have killed. We have seen images of people being tortured when they are kidnapped.”
In a statement late Friday by the 15-member Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom) Chairman Mohamed Irfaan Ali, he said the group had been talking to stakeholders, including Henry. Still, there was no agreement on how to move forward. “We are acutely aware of the urgent need for consensus,” Ali said. “We have impressed on the respective parties that time is not on their side in agreeing to the way forward. From our reports, the situation on the ground remains dire, and is of serious concern to us.”
Meanwhile, observers were quick to point out that the current situation in Haiti “isn’t surprising,” after all. A Revolver News article noted how there is much more to what’s happening in Haiti than just some random “gang uprising” but a failed leftist experiment. “Back in 1804, diversity, equity and inclusion [DEI] was at work in Haiti. It was at that point that Haitian slaves rebelled against France in 1804 and gained independence. In 1803, Napoleon’s attempt to reclaim the island with 20,000 men failed,” the article stated. “Thanks to that moment, Haiti now holds the dubious title of being the first nation established on the substandard principles of DEI. And once those twisted, left-wing ideals took root, the DEI folks in charge quickly ousted the French and even the light-skinned mulattos following the revolution.”
It emphasized that the DEI failure may have started eons ago, but its impact on Haiti has been devastating for ages. Henry took office in 2021, following a nudge from the U.S. indicating he was the “pre-approved” choice. However, he’s proven utterly unable to safeguard his country or its citizens. “Now, the ferocious, bloodthirsty gangs have all turned on each other. They’re literally eating each other. It’s like watching the DEI-to-cannibalism pipeline unfold.”
U.S. to send $100M for multinational force deployment in Haiti
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced earlier in the week that the country is to funnel an additional $100 million to finance the deployment of a multinational force to Haiti to attempt to stop the country’s violent crisis.
After a meeting with Caribbean leaders in Jamaica, Blinken also announced another $33 million in humanitarian aid and the creation of a joint proposal agreed on by Caribbean leaders and all of the Haitian stakeholders to expedite a political transition and create a “presidential college.” According to him, the college would take “concrete steps” – that he did not identify – to meet the needs of the Haitian people and enable the pending deployment of the multinational force to be led by Kenya. He also stated that the U.S. Department of Defense doubled its support for the mission, having previously set aside $100 million.
Caricom has supported this proposal. “I think we can all agree: Haiti is on the brink of disaster,” Ali said. “We must take quick and decisive action” as he expressed confidence in the commonality it found with the U.S. in supporting what he described as a Haitian-led and -owned solution. “It is clear that Haiti is now at a tipping point,” he said. “We are deeply distressed that it is already too late for too many who have lost far too much at the hands of criminal gangs.”
(Related: US wants to invade Haiti again after exploiting and destroying it, Kim Ives tells the Health Ranger.)
Sources for this article include:
Economist Warns Rollout Of The Mark Of The Beast Being Prepared By Central Bank
Maine Announces $65 Million Relief Fund For Organic Farmers Impacted by PFAS Pollution
Maine has announced a plan to create a $65 million relief fund for organic farmers whose livelihood is being devastated by plastic pollution from per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
PFAS are common environmental pollutants dubbed “forever chemicals.” These harmful chemicals are used to make different environmental and consumer products like firefighting foams and nonstick products. PFAS has long been a cause for concern due to its widespread presence in soil, water, food and even human blood.
For farming, one main source of PFAS is the use of sewage waste as fertilizer. During wastewater treatment, solids are separated from liquids, and the resulting “biosolids” are sold as fertilizer. These biosolids can contain PFAS, as the chemicals are not effectively removed during the treatment process. The extent of PFAS contamination on farmland in the country remains unknown. However, a 2022 estimate by the Environmental Working Group suggests that almost 20 million acres of American cropland are fertilized with sewage sludge. (Related: PFAS in biosolids fertilizer sparks damages lawsuit.)
Maine, being one of the only two states in the U.S. where PFAS testing is required, has discovered that most of its agricultural lands, even organic farms, suffer from PFAS contamination.
Jun Buckle and Hannah Hamilton, owners of an 18-acre organic vegetable farm in Unity, Maine, were among the first to discover the devastating impact of PFAS on their operations. They started their organic vegetable farm more than a decade ago to meticulously grow healthy produce. But everything turned upside down after their well water, used to wash and irrigate their vegetables, tested positive for PFAS contamination. The contamination has been linked to PFAS-laced sewage sludge used as fertilizer nearby years ago.
The results forced them to temporarily stop farming activities as they grappled with cleanup efforts and protecting their land from future contamination.
Similarly, Katia Holmes and her husband faced a crisis at their 700-acre Misty Brook Farm in Albion, Maine, in 2023. PFAS tests on their cows’ milk and hay revealed high PFAS levels. The tests reveal that 20 years ago, the previous owner of their land had spread sewer sludge on certain fields, which, in turn, left PFAS in the soil. The Holmes,’ like the Buckles, had to cease milk production and undergo a lengthy process to mitigate PFAS contamination on their farm.
To date, Maine has already found PFAS chemicals on at least 73 farms and still plans to investigate hundreds more sites.
Maine’s PFAS fund to expand support for affected farmers
In response to the debilitating situation, the government of Maine has allocated $65 million to go toward a PFAS fund. Of the $65 million, $60 million will come from the state and $5 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The fund will allow the state to greatly expand the support it already offers farmers, providing farmers who have lost revenues due to PFAS pollution an additional 12 months of lost income for a total of two years worth of support.
The fund will also contribute towards research to help farmers make informed decisions and give struggling farmers the option to sell their PFAS-contaminated land to the state “at fair market value, as if there was no contamination,” said Beth Valentine, director of the PFAS fund, during a hearing with the Maine Legislature.
The fund is expected to keep evolving through the years. One proposal that is yet to be implemented is for the fund to support medical monitoring efforts for impacted farmers.
“It is important that farmers are not held responsible for the presence of PFAS chemicals, which they did not produce or intentionally use,” said Courtney Briggs, senior director of government affairs at the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Watch this video about forever chemicals being detected in the water systems of nearly 2,800 U.S. cities.
Economist Warns Rollout Of The Mark Of The Beast Being Prepared By Central Bank
Canada to Stop Arms Sales to Israel
Canada will halt future arms sales to Israel, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told the Toronto Star on Tuesday.
The statement came after the parliament passed a resolution on the matter amid a growing push among MPs to condemn Israel’s military operation against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, which has entered its sixth month.
Despite the non-binding nature of the document, Joly confirmed that the government will cease the transfer of weapons to Israel. “It is a real thing,” she said, answering a reporter’s question.
The parliamentary motion was part of a larger vote originally put forward by the minority left-leaning New Democrats (NDP), who pitched it as a way to revive peace talks and support the Palestinians. The resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza was passed on Monday after MPs agreed to tone down its language and include a demand that Hamas “must lay down its arms.”
Read more Netanyahu defies Biden on Rafah offensive
The document calls on Ottawa to “cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel,” the CBC reported on Tuesday. The original text demanded the suspension “of all trade in military goods and technology with Israel.”
The resolution also calls for “the establishment of the State of Palestine as part of a negotiated two-state solution.”
Read more Biden knew Israel was bombing indiscriminately – WaPo
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz condemned Joly’s remarks on X (formerly Twitter), arguing that the refusal to sell weapons “undermines Israel’s right to self-defense against Hamas terrorists.” He added that “history will judge Canada’s current action harshly.”
Hamas launched a series of raids on Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,100 people and taking more than 200 hostages. Israel’s subsequent military operation in Gaza has killed nearly 32,000 Palestinians, according to the local health authorities.
Despite the mounting international calls for a lasting ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Tuesday that the Israel Defense Forces will continue their advance on Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, which he described as a stronghold of the militants. “We do not see a way to eliminate Hamas militarily without destroying these remaining battalions,” he told legislators.
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AI-Generated Deepfakes Are Beginning to Sway Public Opinion All Over The World
Artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes are beginning to sway public opinion all over the world.
Creating fake photos, videos or audio clips used to require considerable resources in terms of time, technical expertise and finances. But the advent of AI has drastically lowered these barriers, providing anyone with malicious intent and a smartphone with the power to manipulate public opinion.
The sophistication of AI-generated content makes it more challenging to discern fact from fiction, making it harder to combat misinformation.
The implications of AI deepfakes on elections are multifaceted. For instance, pro-European President Maia Sandu of Moldova has found herself at the center of a disinformation storm as AI deepfakes falsely depict her endorsing a political party aligned with Russia.
Rumeen Farhana, an opposition lawmaker and a vocal critic of the ruling party in Bangladesh, also faced a similar case last year, when an AI-generated deepfake video showed her wearing a bikini. The deeply conservative Muslim nation of Bangladesh went wild with fury, discrediting Farhana’s image.
Meanwhile, in Slovakia, just days before the national elections, AI-generated audio recordings impersonated a liberal candidate discussing plans to raise beer prices and rig the election. Fact-checkers scrambled to identify them as false, but people still shared them on social media as if they were real. (Related: Google’s AI is completely fabricating fake quotes to smear truth-tellers.)
In other words, AI-generated deepfakes can be used to smear or bolster a candidate’s image, manipulate voter sentiment and erode trust in democratic institutions.
Henry Ajder, an expert in generative AI based in England, stated that, as AI-generated disinformation campaigns become increasingly sophisticated and widespread, the question now is not whether AI deepfakes could influence elections but rather how influential they will become.
“You don’t need to look far to see some people being clearly confused as to whether something is real or not,” said Ajder.
Expert expects a “tsunami of misinformation” as U.S. elections near, thanks to AI
With the U.S. presidential election coming up in November, experts warn that more AI-generated deepfakes are likely to emerge.
“I expect a tsunami of misinformation,” said Oren Etzioni, an artificial intelligence expert and a professor emeritus at the University of Washington. “I can’t prove that. I hope to be proven wrong. But the ingredients are there, and I am completely terrified.”
Deepfakes have started making their way into experimental presidential campaign ads. Etzioni said the scope for misinformation is vast, from fabricating political statements to simulating crises such as medical emergencies or acts of violence.
“You could see a political candidate like President [Joe] Biden being rushed to a hospital,” he said. “You could see a candidate saying things that he or she never actually said. You could see a run on the banks. You could see bombings and violence that never occurred.”
These fake tools could target specific groups and spread false messages about voting. For instance, they could send convincing text messages, spread wrong information about voting processes on WhatsApp in different languages, or create fake websites that look like the official website of a government organization.
“Everything that we’ve been wired to do through evolution is going to come into play to have us believe in the fabrication rather than the actual reality,” said misinformation scholar Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
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